A majority of the cases involved heated "disputes" or a "breach
of peace", but 1,811 were classified as crimes, including nine
murders, nine rapes and 137 cases of injuries.

Experts partly attributed the surge to rising social tensions in
Hong Kong since the 1997 handover from British to Chinese rule,
with a growing number of marriages between Hong Kong men and
mainland women failing.

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Social groups have urged a domestic violence court be
established and outdated laws amended to better protect
victims.

"It's the tip of the iceberg," said Margaret Wong, Executive
Director of Harmony House, a shelter for battered women. "We don't
want (abusers) throwing people down 50 floors and things like that.
(It) happens every year," she added.

In 2004, a husband jumped to his death from a high-rise block
after murdering his wife and two children in a case that shocked
the city. Last November, a man chopped his ex-wife and two
daughters to death with a knife after a difficult divorce.

The rise in cases also reflected a growing awareness and sense
of empowerment among local women to stand up and report abuses that
might otherwise have gone un-noticed, Wong said.

"In the last couple of years, there've been a number of
traumatic domestic tragedies in the community and I think ... that
did raise awareness and sensitivity among the public and frontline
professionals dealing with domestic violence and that has caused a
rise in the reporting of such cases."